“I was looking to do my second build after my first hit the four year mark. I found the “build the $800 gaming PC” article and thank you ExtremeTech. I was looking as suggested at the Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33 GHz and also happened upon the Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0 GHz. Now at first glance for the additional $100 that seems like a nice boost in speed and is within my budget. Then I realized one unalterable fact: I have little or no clue how all the components of a computer work together or what are the limiting factors in computer speed. So a general question: If I build using the components suggested in the article and opt for the faster chip, will I see a reasonable boost in performance? Am I getting a good bang for my buck?

Side note: Having a tough time finding the Cool Master Centurian RC-534 with a power supply. Seems they sell it now without the power supply included. Any suggestions for a combo case and power supply?”

Answer from blockgorilla

“i found the case with power supply included price was Newegg Item#:N82E16811119148 $69.99 but the power supply is only 390 Watts, here is another cooler master power supply (also from newegg.com) Item#:N82E16817171016 $69.99.

i’m not extremely familiar with power supplies/requirements but this would work for the $800 budget pc but if you ever wanted to update the graphics card you would prob need to also buy a larger (hopefully, more efficient) power supply. regarding the processor question, the processor would work well but you can get the 2.44ghz quad processor cheaper than you can get the 3.0 ghz dual core processor and the quad would be much better. block”

Answer from tlmck

“Although a bit scarce, the E8400 is a better bargain. It is the newer 45nm version of the E6850.

I would avoid the low end Coolermaster power supplies myself. Their higher end models are OK quality wise, but not price competitive. A much better choice would be an Antec Earthwatts 500 or a Corsair 450vx. This would take it a bit out of the $800 price change, but you get what you pay for. You could replace the overpriced and unnecessary features of the ASUS MB with a P35-DS3L from Gigabyte for less than $100. It is highly overclockable if desired, and will more than match the quality and performance of the ASUS. The savings would easily cover the cost of the better PSU. If overclocking is not desired, the P35-S3G saves another $10.”

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